


The Gambler

by maleprotag



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Red String of Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-18 00:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11862441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maleprotag/pseuds/maleprotag
Summary: Part of the season 3 gift exchange on tumblr!Dedicated to tumblr user fllorona!!!"And then he saw it. The string. Tugging at his pinkie, it led directly from his finger to Lance's. Keith could feel his heart stop, break and pull back together all at once. He found him-- his soulmate. And it was his fucking roommate, at that."EDIT 2017-10-13: After seeing Matt on screen in season 4, it seemed like he was younger than I first thought he was. Because of that, Sh@tt makes me a tad uncomfortable now as Matt doesn't have a determined age atm and because of that I don't wish to ship it anymore. I don't plan on deleting this fic as it's been up for so long and was a gift however please note that I no longer am a sh@tt shipper.





	1. The Beginning

                Keith had always been able to see it. The thin, yet incredibly strong, red string of fate tied around almost each and every person’s pinkie. No one believed him, at first, when he could first start seeing it. In the many foster homes he went to, no one gave him a second glance let alone allowed him to explain completely the string around their fingers that only he could see. Only one person did and that was Shiro. His foster brother, now adopted, believed him when he first spoke of the string. Keith pointed out that Shiro had one around his pinkie, but it was tangled. When Shiro asked who he was attached to, Keith wouldn’t say—he was scared it would only tangle the knot even further.

                Shiro was attached to his best friend, Matthew Holt, their next door neighbor. The string was so unbelievably tangled that it pained Keith to see it. He had a feeling why it was—Shiro wouldn’t admit his feelings. He watched as Matt got into several relationships over the years and yet never once said a word about his feelings. Keith knew he was suffering—every time he held back, the knot would get bigger.

                That was the first example he had of the string. He hated it. Hated seeing good people knot and ignore the string themselves. He couldn’t fix them, he couldn’t help them. Even if he knew of the string and what it meant, he knew that fate wasn’t always true. He had seen abusive relationships stay together while the string was ignored. He had seen his brother Shiro knot and tie his string over and over again, as if he was trying to break it.

                Only Keith could break the string. He had done it once, by accident. To his adopted parents. Grasping onto the string of another’s, pulling on it tight, it had snapped before his eyes; bits of string turning into light, disintegrating into the air. He had ruined someone’s fate, all because he was curious. He knew not to interfere again.

                But God he wanted to.

                Come time, he had grown used to seeing the string everywhere. He no longer tried to avoid it, tried to ignore staring at it, tried to fix it. He went on about his day as if he was like everyone else—a simple nobody with no idea of what the future held. He was good at it—pretending.

                But then he entered University.

                At the age of 18, he was just coming into school on the hope of his parents and brother. He had no big plans as to what he wanted to be, but he knew it pleased them, seeing him succeed. So, he had applied and had been accepted into their local university. Today was the day he moved into his dorm room, with the help of Shiro and Matt.

                “You’re going to love it here, Keith.” Matt said, a big goofy smile on his face. “The food here is fantastic due to the Chief certificate here and their students. The mess is open 24/7 and the communal living style isn’t too bad once you get used to it.”

                “I’m going to be teaching here every Tuesday and Thursday, if you ever get lonely.” Shiro butted in, a softer look on his face as Keith nodded. He was trying hard not to stare at the string between the two—so very knotted and worn out. It would never break, would it?

                “Thanks, you two.” Keith said, dropping off a box onto his bed. “I think I’m just going to get used to being on my own for a bit, before classes start.”

                “You could get a roommate last minute.” Matt suggested, bounding over to sit on the empty bed, bouncing a bit. “Plus, Katie is here too. She’ll be bothering you enough when she’s not busy with classes.”

                “Child genius, indeed.” Shiro smiled at Matt before dropping off a box beside the others and turning over to look at Keith. “Do you have everything with you? Your guitar, your books…?”

                “Yeah, this should be everything.” Keith managed a small smile, standing up to give his brother a hug. “Thanks again. I’ll call you later on this week.”

                “Looking forward to it. I’ll tell mom you’re settled in.” Shiro patted his back before turning to Matt. “Wanna get dinner before home?”

                “Sure, but I gotta see Danny later on tonight!” Matt grinned suggestively and Keith watched as the knot grew. _Say something, Shiro._

                “Sounds good.” He smiled through the pain and waved goodbye to Keith. “See ya!”

                “Bye…”

                God, he wish he could help.

* * *

 

 

                It was interesting, seeing how many people had their soulmates here at school. Keith navigated through the small crowd in the cafeteria, eyeing the many people already introduced to their partners and the many who were still unknowing of their fate. It was exhausting, thinking of how each and every persons fate could play out—hopefully safe and fast, already interested in their soulmate. But he knew that there could be some bad relationships out there first—and he could only hope they were resolved fast.

                Glancing up, he noticed Pidge at a table to herself, already reading a massive textbook. She was so much smaller than the rest, so much younger than everyone here, and yet she didn’t look scared. Keith was proud of her, for graduating high school early, for being accepted on scholarships to this university. But he was also worried.

                She didn’t have a string on her pinkie yet.

                He knew that sometimes they came later in life. He had seen an old teacher of his struggle with relationships for as long as had known her and on the last month of his last school year, she finally got her string. He was hopeful the same could come of Pidge—he wanted his best friend to be happy.

                “Oh, hey!” She noticed him as he finally pulled out a chair next to her. “I didn’t see you there. How’re you liking the school?”

                “It’s fine.” He shrugged, glancing around the many folks around them. “Bigger than our high school, that’s for sure.”

                “Seen anyone from our school yet?”

                “I saw Allura. I’m surprised she stayed in the country to attend university here.” Keith said, rubbing at his tired eyes. “She’s staying with her uncle, apparently.

                “Oh, I can’t wait to see her again!” Pidge grinned, closing her book and leaning against it. “Made any friends yet?”

                “Not really.” Keith side eyed her, unsure where she was going with this. “I haven’t really been out of my room yet. I was hoping you’d go book shopping with me today.”

                “Sounds like a plan.” She nodded. “I’ve made a friend already!”

                “Oh yeah?”

                “Yeah! His name is Hunk! You should see him, Keith: he’s huge and yet so very gentle! He’s super smart and he’s doing a double major in engineering and cooking. We’re in the same class and he promised to sit beside me on the first day, wasn’t that nice? He’s a bit of a dork too.”

                “Sounds like you like him already.” Keith laughed, Pidge glaring lightly.

                “Please, I’m just glad I’ve made a friend already. The way Matt explained university to me, he made it out like I was going to suffer for four years.”

                “You still could.”

                “Sounds like you’re already suffering, at least.” Pidge laughed. Keith couldn’t argue that, only choosing to frown and look away. Who was Hunk attached to? It defiantly wasn’t Pidge, otherwise she would have her string finally. Plus, he was probably too old for Pidge—Keith wouldn’t accept anything other than another 15 year old for his friend.

                “I’m just not used to being here, that’s all.” He said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sure I’ll make some friends, like you, come time.”

                “Well,” She started, standing up to pick up her bag and dig her book into it. “When someone comes to you looking for friendship, and they will, don’t hold back. You’ll thank me later.”

                “Please, I won’t be thanking shit.” Keith laughed, standing up alongside her and walking towards the exit. Some part of him, maybe deep down, he knew Pidge was right. He always pulled away from others that weren’t Pidge, Matt or Shiro. He didn’t know how to make closer relationships—didn’t want to interfere with others in fear he would break their string by accident. He didn’t want to get close to others, get sympathetic and try to direct their lives. He was terrified of ruining their lives all because of his stupid gift.

                But, part of him craved that affection that came with love. Craved it to so much, he often tried to follow his string, trying to find the end of it. He never succeeded. Maybe he’d never meet his fated love.

                Maybe he’d live forever alone, too scared to try new things, meet new people.

                Maybe…


	2. Choose Your Own Fate?

                Keith came home to his door already unlocked and slightly ajar. Eyebrows furrowed, he slowly inched it open only to reveal boxes upon boxes blocking his view.

                “Uh…Hello?” He called out, growing agitated when he couldn’t push his way through. A few noises were heard and suddenly a box was gone from his view, revealing a person behind it.

                “Hey! I’m Lance!” said the man, a cheery smile on his face. He had darkened sun kissed skin, a light splay of freckles across his cheeks and the bluest set of eyes Keith had ever seen. His hair looked like it had been dyed a lighter brown colour and he had the biggest smile on his face, like he was genuinely excited to be there.

                “I’m Keith…” He retorted back, still frowning as he tried to glance around him. “What are you doing in my room?”

                “Your room?” Lance tilted his head slightly before gasping and moving to take away the boxes still blocking Keith from entering. “Oh my god, you’re my new roommate!”

                “I had a roommate?” Keith asked, finally walking back into his room. There were literally boxes everywhere, clothes already thrown about and another man in the corner, trying to organize what looked to be a pile of comic books.

                “Yeah, I just flew in today!” Lance answered, hands on his hips as he too glanced around at the mess he had made. “That’s Hunk, my buddy from elementary school. You might be seeing him a lot.”

                “I doubt there’s more than one Hunk at this school—you must be Pidge’s new friend.” Keith said, setting down his bag that was heavy with books.

                “Oh yeah! Pidge’s so sweet, you’ll love her Lance.” Hunk mentioned, setting down some books to greet Keith. “I’m Hunk Garret, it’s nice to meet you.” Keith glanced down at his extended hand and noticed the string around his pinkie. It was bright and clean of any knots—lucky fellow. He was probably already with the person he was fated to be with.

                “Nice to meet you. I’m Keith. Keith Kogane.” He shook Hunks hand, offering a tired smile. “Lance, was it?”

                “Yeah! Lance Mcclain, at your service.” He grinned, extending out his hand to take Keith’s.

                And then he saw it. The string. Tugging at his pinkie, it led directly from his finger to Lance's. Keith could feel his heart stop, break and pull back together all at once. He found him-- his soulmate. And it was his fucking roommate, at that. Keith stood there, staring for what seemed like a long time, his mouth open, gapping at the string so very small between him and Lance.

               “Uh…Keith?” He briefly heard Lance say, hand still extended and waiting. Keith started to shake, his legs unable to carry his weight anymore.

               “I gotta go.” He muttered, quickly picking back up his bag and leaving, Lance’s cries behind him as he practically ran out the room.

               He could feel his string tug, a tiny knot forming in the middle of them.

                _Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god._

* * *

 

              “I saw it! I-I saw it and I ran, like a frigging coward.”

              “Keith, calm down.”

              “How can I be calm when I just ruined my first meeting with my fucking soulmate, Shiro? How can I be calm?”

             “Well, first, I thought this was just a thing from your childhood.” Shiro said, causing Keith to stop in his pacing. He backed up against the wall of his dorm and slid to the ground with a ‘thud’.

             “You don’t believe me.”

             “Of course I believe you—I’m just shocked is all.”

             “Then what do I do? How do I fix this?” Keith asked, his voice small.

             “If he’s truly your soulmate, if he’s actually connected to you—with, with this string thing, then it doesn’t matter how you two first meet.” Shiro calmly explained from the other line on the phone, Keith’s eyes closing as he tried to even his breaths. “What matters now is that you go back in there and get to know him.”

             “That’s it? That simple?”

             “Well, if it’s fated to be, then you shouldn’t try to fight it.” He could hear Shiro laugh, and then talk to someone in the background briefly. “Sorry, Matt just came in. Do you want me to call you back?”

             “No, it’s fine.” Keith sighed, bringing his knees up to his chest and burying his face into them. “I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go back up there and talk to him. I don’t want to mess this up, Shiro.”

             “You’re not going to. He seems like a nice guy, from the way you described him.” Shiro tried to reassure. “You’ll be fine, Keith. But don’t be scared. He’s not going to bite—if it’s meant to be, it’ll work itself out.”

            “I don’t like leaving things to fate.”

            “Then take control and choose your own fate.” Shiro said, a smile in his voice as he talked. “Look, I gotta go, I told Matt I would take him out for lunch. I’ll call you late on?”

            “Okay…” Keith said, saying his goodbyes before hanging up the phone.

_Choose your own fate, huh?_

            He never liked playing with fate. Never liked the idea that he was in control of somebody else’s happiness. And that someone just happened to be him this time. And Lance.

            He didn’t even know Lance. He knew he flew in from somewhere and that he was friends with Hunk. He had a lot of things and that he liked comic books. He was cheerful and friendly. He was pretty.

 _No, get those thoughts out of your head._ Keith thought to himself, standing back up and brushing the dirt off himself. He wasn’t about to lose himself to the idea of love just yet. He didn’t know the guy and the guy didn’t know him. They could hate each other, for all Keith knew.

            Walking back to his dorm room was easy enough—take the stairs up two floors, turn a left and then another right, there was his number. 208. There was a white board underneath the numbers that said his name and then Lances. Lance’s writing was in all caps, making his look small and messy in comparison. They had also written in different colours—red and blue. It looked nice. Natural.

_Stop, stop, stop, stop._

            Entering his room, he was surprised it had been locked at first. Lance must’ve left with Hunk while he was gone. Throwing down his bag once more, he glanced around the now tided room, an eyebrow pushed up. Lance’s side was completely covered, inch by inch, with his possessions. There were maybe dozens of photos up by his bedside, all of him and his family. There were posters where there weren’t photos, of different shows and movies. Some comic books piled up high enough to touch the posters up on the wall, while his other books were piled up beneath them. His bed was a startling bright blue and he had maybe four pillows there, with what looked like a shark plushy. His clothes were still on the ground, but at least they were folded now. Some empty boxes were still there but it wasn’t as messy as before.

            Turning around, Keith noticed a note on his pillow. He could feel his heart stop, then speed up all in a few seconds. It took a moment but he managed to walk over and pick up the note, hands slightly shaking as he did.

**DEAR KEITH,**

**SORRY IF I SCARED YOU :O I DON’T THINK OF MYSELF AS A SCARY PERSON**

**HUNK AND I LEFT TO GET FOOD, AND TO DISPOSE OF SOME OF THE BOXES. SORRY IF IT WAS REALLY MESSY WHEN YOU FIRST CAME IN. I WAS HOPING TO CLEAN UP BEFORE YOU CAME IN.**

**I REALLY WANT TO BE A GOOD ROOMMATE TO YOU. I DON’T WANT TO MAKE THINGS TENSE BETWEEN US**

**EVEN IF YOU HAVE A MULLET, I THINK WE COULD BE GOOD FRIENDS** **:)**

**I’LL SEE YOU LATER ON TONIGHT!**

**LOVE,**

**LANCE.**

            Keith folded the note into his hands and waited. Waited for his heart to stop beating so fucking fast. Waited for Lance to come home.

            He eventually folded it into his pocket and laid back onto his bed. He grabbed his pillow and stuffed his face against it, trying to stop the smile that was ever so slowly forming.

_God…Damnit…_


	3. 3 Am Cookies

                The first day of classes were that morning and Keith couldn’t sleep. He stirred awake sometime around 3 am, glancing at his clock with blurry eyes. Groaning to himself, he tried to ignore the tug on his string when Lance turned over in his bed.

                It had been a few weeks they had been together as roommates. And yet Keith couldn’t bring himself to get close to Lance. Lance was very inviting—very friendly and open to Keith joining him and Hunk on their daily adventures. It was tough though, considering Keith had just watched Lance get ready for his day, watching the string as it curved around and flitted through the air. Whenever it came time to leave, Keith would make up an excuse to be alone.

                He could tell Lance was getting tired of trying. Or at least, it seemed like it. Rolling over in bed to sit up, Keith held back a sigh as he stared across at Lance. He slept with this weird face mask on, eye mask and everything. Keith had learned very quickly just how much into beauty Lance was. He thought for a moment of introducing him to Allura so that they could gush over products together, but again, he couldn’t find his voice when it came down to it.

                Getting up, he wrapped himself up in a robe and slippers before slowly inching himself out of the room, trying to be quiet for Lance. The bright light bothered him for a few moments as he walked down the empty, quiet hallway down to the mess. Shiro had been encouraging him all week—giving him ideas on how to invite Lance himself to do something together. ‘Even if you don’t want to date him, at least get to know your roommate, Keith.’ _That’s easy enough to say._

                Entering the mess, Keith made his way to the dessert table, eyeing the thing for cookies. He knew Hunk had been messing around in the kitchen lately and everyone on their floor was practically in love with his cooking already. Keith had tried one of his triple chocolate chip cookies that day before and had fallen just as fast. He growled lightly when he realized there weren’t any left and dejectedly grabbed a muffin instead.

                “What’re doing up?” He heard someone call, nearly dropping his muffin at the sudden noise. Turning around, he was surprised to see Lance, in all his night time glory, standing there with a hand on his hip. “Heh, sorry man. Didn’t mean to scare ya.”

                “Oh….Ah…” Keith hesitated, holding the muffin in both hands as he choose to look at it instead. “I was hungry.”

                “Uh huh.” Lance said, coming closer to him to inspect the table himself. “Now, where did I put it…” Keith looked up, eyebrows up as he watched Lance move aside some cupcakes to reveal two packaged cookies.

                “You…You were hiding them?”

                “Of course! Hunk’s cookies are famous—I wasn’t about to lose out on them by chance.” Lance grinned, his face mask crinkling with the lines of his face. Keith couldn’t help the smile that grew from that before he corrected himself, frowning down at the cookies. “Want one?”

                “You’re serious?” Keith grinned, about to reach out and grab one when he noticed the string, lightly moving with his hand. There was a tiny knot there already—probably Keith’s doing, if he thought about it. He didn’t know how to fix knots—he had never tried, nor did he want to. He was afraid he would just break the damn string altogether. Pulling back, he felt that grin turn into a light glare—frustrated he was holding back yet again. What shocked him next was Lance’s hand on his. Keith looked up, confused as the other man gently pulled out a cookie and placed it in Keith’s hand.

                “Triple chocolate chip is your favorite, right? I think I saw you eat ten of these the other day.” Lance chuckled, withdrawing his hands after a moment, the string extending with him.

                “I—I ah…” Keith felt his voice choke up. He had touched him. Touched him. It was so simple yet it sent shivers down Keith’s spine. How long had he wanted to touch him? “Thank you.”

                “No problem, man.” Lance grinned, further crinkling up his mask. “I like oatmeal raisin myself. No one else seems to like them so I get them all for myself.”

                “Smart man.” Keith said, later blushing at the intrusive comment. “I, uh…I’m heading back to the dorm.”

                “Cool, I’ll come with.” Lance nodded, starting towards the exit. Keith looked back down at the cookie in his hand, lightly running a thumb over the top package. He smiled, lightly, to himself and the cookie, before catching up to Lance.

                “Why the face mask?” Keith asked, causing Lance to nearly choke on his cookie. He laughed somewhat through the coughing, glancing over at Keith with a sincere smile.

                “My sisters got me into them. Ever since high school, they would use me as their test rat for every face mask they got. Gave me the beautiful skin I have. Now I can’t really live without them.”

                “You have sisters?”

                “Mm,” Lance nodded, taking a moment to chew. “Two of them and one older brother. They’re a lot older than me—I’m actually the youngest in the family, if you don’t count my nieces and nephews. What about you?”

                “I have one brother.” Keith murmured.

                “Shiro? Right?” Lance smiled at Keith’s confusion. “He came by earlier this week looking for you. Told me to have you call him. I think you called him either way, despite my not telling.”

                “Yeah, he’s my adopted brother. I was adopted, not him.” Keith explained, slowly unwrapping the cookie from its packaging. “He works here as a temp teacher while the other guy is away on sick leave. He teaches Astronomy and Physics.”

                “Cool, I might have him this term then.” Lance grinned, opening the door for Keith and then closing it behind them. “What classes are you taking this term?”

                “Uh, Liberal Studies 100, Studies of Genre and I think the ethics of War and Peace.”

                “You’re a Liberal Studies major?” Lance asked, sitting on his bed opposite of Keith.

                “Yeah…I didn’t really know what to go into. Shiro suggested Liberal Studies because I could customize it to my interests along the way.”

                “Kudos to that, buddy. I’m doing a joint major, kill me now.” Lance joked, stuffing down the last bit of his cookie into his mouth. “If I was smart enough, I’d do Physics but I’m actually in Sociology and Communications.”

                “Doing astronomy for your science?” Keith asked, smiling at the sad nod Lance gave. “I have to do two lab sciences as well and one normal science. I thought it’d be weird if I joined a class my brother was teaching.”

                “Hey, if you want to do it next term, I can tutor you. And I wouldn’t charge that much!” Lance assured him, a little chuckle leaving Keith at that. “You know…this is the most we’ve talked this entire month. You’re actually really fun to talk to.”

                “You thought I wasn’t?” Keith frowned, especially when Lance laughed back.

                “Not that you weren’t fun, just that you didn’t talk much. I thought you hated me, you were avoiding me so much.” At that, Keith felt the knot tighten in their string. He wanted to pull away, end the conversation, and find some way to make the awkward pain stop. However, he also knew that this was a chance for him to explain himself. _Just do it, Keith._

                “Yeah, I…” Keith took another bite of his cookie, trying to buy time. “I’m…Shy.”

                “I can understand that.” Lance smiled, leaning back into his bed, a leg up revealing his blue lion pajama pants. _Where did he even find those_? “Hunk was hella shy when we first met. It took forever to get him out of his shell.”

                “You think I have a shell.”

                “Maybe.” Lance shrugged, tugging at his pants, which in turn tugged at their string. “I’m just glad we’re talking now. It only took two weeks.”

                “Yeah, sorry.” Keith smiled, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll try to be…More communicative.”

                “No pressure! Just know that I’m always here. We gotta have each other’s back this year. I have a feeling it’s not going to be too kind on us freshmen.”

                “Right.” Keith laughed, finishing the last of his cookie with a sigh. “Thanks again for the cookie. Maybe….Maybe we can get coffee sometime this week?”

                “Sounds good! I’d talk still but class starts at 8 and it’s already 4 am.” Lance explained, already kicking off his slippers and climbing into bed. “I’m off at 3 today. You?”

                “4 pm.”

                “Let’s hang out then.” Lance grinned, crossing his arms behind his head. “Good night!”

                “Night…”

_Oh god, I did it._


	4. Unrequited Feelings

                Hanging out with was Lance easier than Keith imagined it would be—the man was so talkative, Keith found it soothing to just listen and nod along. Lance seemed content enough with Keith’s small inputs, when he was brave enough to speak, and with that they conversed. Keith learned that Lance was crazy about three things—his family, space, and girls. He had assumed that Lance was close with his family already, from all the pictures in their room, but he wasn’t expecting space. Or the girls part. The way he talked about both, his eye lit up and he was so passionate about them, it left Keith a bit tongue tied. When asked about his interests, it was a bit harder for him than Lance—He didn’t have much.

                “Well, I like playing the guitar.” Keith mumbled around his cup of coffee. They had walked over to a little café on campus that sold expensive coffee and sweet pastries. Sitting together at the table, it felt almost like a date. _Stop assuming that._

                “Yeah! I noticed that back in our room. Why haven’t you played me something yet?” Lance grinned, picking at his croissant lazily as he talked.

                “I haven’t been able to talk to you let alone sing to you.”

                “True.” Lance laughed, causing Keith to smile slightly. “Well, when you feel comfortable, maybe you can show me some songs sometime.”

                “Do you know how to play any instruments?” Keith asked, setting down his coffee before reaching out for a bit of the croissant.

                “I was forced to learn the piano as a kid! I can kinda sing but not really. I like playing for my nieces—they have the cutest voices and practically scream the lyrics but it’s so much fun.”

                “Aw.” Keith sighed. “Must be nice to have a big family.”

                “What about yours? I know you have Shiro.”

                “Shiro and our mom. She lives almost outside of town, but it’s not too bad of a drive to see her. She teaches for a living at a preschool.”

                “She’s your…adopted mom, yeah?” Lance asked hesitantly, Keith offering a soft smile at that to ease his questioning.

                “Yeah. At first they took me in as a foster but I guess she liked me enough to keep me.”

                “Little Keith…How was he?” Lance giggled ( _straight up giggled!_ ) and tilted his head somewhat, the food now forgotten as he leaned his head into his hand. Before Keith could speak, a hand was placed on his shoulder and the question answered for him.       

                “He was a little monster who hunted cryptids during the night. He also was so obsessed with horror movies and knives, we were concerned he was going to grow up and murder us all.”

                “Shiro!” Keith turned around, frowning at his brother as Lance laughed. Matt stood behind him, waving casually as he too chuckled. “What are you doing here?”

                “I’m off work. Matt and I were just going to get a coffee together before I headed home.” Shiro answered clearly, smiling gently at the two of them together. “You must be Lance. Keith’s told me so much about you.”

                “Oh, has he now?” Lance grinned viciously, staring down at Keith as the other blushed and glanced away. “Hopefully only good things.”

                “Only that you snore really loudly at times.”

                “Ouch! In return, you should tell me more about baby Keith!”

                “He had a bowlcut!” Matt interjected, laughing along with Lance as Shiro offered a silent ‘sorry’ to Keith, who was still blushing and glaring at the two.

                “You went from a bowlcut to a mullet? Oh, Keith, I’m so sorry.” Lance shook his head, wiping at his eyes dramatically.

                “I don’t know what’s wrong with my hair. It’s just a bit long in the back.” Keith retorted, crossing his arms and pouting. Lance reached out and ruffled his hair, fingers lingering at the roots for a moment or two.

                “At least you pull it off. I think, at this point, it would be weird if you had anything else but a mullet.”

                “He has a point.” Shiro laughed, tugging at the ends of Keith’s hair just to bother him, earning a little grunt in return. “Don’t you think so, Matt? Matt?” He asked, only to find Matt holding his phone to his ear.

                “Sorry, Danny’s calling. I gotta take this.” Matt grinned, walking away somewhat to answer his partner. Keith watched, as always, the knot grew between them. It was shivering, shaking—the thread was so thin and frail that it looked like it was going to break. He had never seen one break before by normal circumstances—ones heart breaking and whatnot.

                “Shiro?” Keith called out gently, frowning when his brother didn’t respond. The knot kept growing. Keith could feel the pain of it all—of supposedly unrequited love. For a moment, his impulses no longer controlled, he reached out. He took the string in his hand and held it there for a moment. He could hear Lance behind him, asking him something. Shiro came back and was looking at him. Keith focused in on the knot in his hands and ran his thumb over it gently. Should he break it? Ease Shiro of this pain?

                No. No he needed to do something. He needed to help his brother with this. He wrapped his hands over the knot, feeling the warmth of it. He wanted to help.

                How could he fix this?

                “Keith?” Lance tried for the third time, finally catching the other’s attention. Looking up, Keith realized how silly he must’ve looked just now—taking his hands back to his sides, he shrugged, like he had just been thinking.

                “You okay?” Shiro asked, eyes concerned as he glanced down at Keith’s hands. Keith knew that Shiro knew of the string—Keith merely shook his head, hoping that Shiro could wait till later for him to explain.

                “I think I’m a bit beat from class. I might head back to the dorms.” Keith mumbled, pushing his chair out and standing. Lance followed suit and collected their plates to take back to the front. “I’ll see you later, Shiro.” Keith offered a smile before pulling up his book bag around his shoulder and leaving. Lance caught up quick and butted his shoulder against Keith’s as they walked back out into the cold.

                “What was that all about?”

                “I’m not too sure myself.” Keith frowned.

                “Is Shiro okay?” Lance asked, glancing back quickly at Shiro, who still stood there waiting for Matt to get off the phone. “He looks so heartbroken.”

                “Wait, you can tell?” Keith stopped them, a hand on Lance’s arm as he stared at him.

                “Yeah, it’s pretty obvious.” Lance smiled sadly. “The way he kept looking at that other guy, the way his body moved so he was close to him at all times, the way his voice died just then…” Lance looked back one last time before turning back to Keith, eyes sincere. “He’s in love. Or something like that.”

                “I think so too!” Keith squeezed Lance’s arm, excited that he could finally talk to someone about this. “I don’t know what to do! He’s been like this for as long as I can remember him and Matt being friends. He won’t speak up on his feelings, despite how he preaches to me all the time, and he’s so infuriatingly patient with Matt that it drives me crazy.”

                “What _can_ you do?” Lance placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and squeezed back. “Interfering might make things worse.”

                “But I know they’re meant to be together!” Keith admitted, mouth dropping open the second he said that. He took a step away from Lance, away from that warmth and withdrew his hands back to himself, crossing his arms. “I just mean--… They would be really good together. I hate seeing Shiro like this.”

                “I understand.” Lance tucked his hands into his pockets and sighed. “…What do we do?”

                “We?” Keith asked, a tiny smile pulling at the edge of his lips as Lance and him continued walking.

                “Hey, you got me invested. Now I have to see this through.” Lance reassured, taking a breath before wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulders, pulling him in. “We got this. I know we do.”

                “Right…” Keith said, breathlessly. “…I think I know who we can talk to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan on having this done by September 5th! So look out for more chapters this week (I have some time off work so I can actually write now lmao)


	5. Planning

                “I don’t know what I can do to help.” Pidge sighed, leaning against the wall of Keith’s bed as she fiddled with her pants. “Like you said, Matt’s kind of oblivious to Shiro’s pining. Even I caught on way before you, Keith.” She smirked, Keith frowning at that part. _At least I know they’re soulmates._

                “You’re his sister though.” Lance interjected, pacing around the room as he tried to help plan with the two. “You might know something or of some way we can get the two talking at least.”

                “Shiro won’t do it by himself.” Keith nodded, sitting down beside Pidge, humming when she patted his hand. “He probably will never try.”

                “He did try!” Pidge said, sitting up straighter.

                “What? When?”

                “A couple years back. I almost walked in on them.” She hummed. “They were standing in Matt’s room—the TV was playing and it looked like they had been watching a movie or something. Shiro said he had to tell Matt something. Something important to him. I didn’t mean to watch but…I kinda just stood there.”

                “What happened?” Lance asked, now sitting beside Keith, a hand on his shoulder as they listened.

                “He was silent for a few moments. He was shaking kind of. Then he smiled and said that he was just glad Matt was his friend.” Pidge looked at Keith, eyes sad as she smiled. “They hugged and that’s when I left.”

                “God damn it, Shiro.” Keith rubbed at his face, relaxing when Lance patted his back. “Well, maybe we can work on that.”

                “But are you sure you want to interfere?” Pidge jutted forward, standing up to look down at the two. "I don’t know how Matt will react to Shiro’s feelings. He’d be kind about it, I think. Whether or not he reciprocates is the problem. He has a girlfriend.”

                “I know.” Lance frowned. “But maybe Shiro can move on if he finally tells his feelings.”

                “I think it’ll work out.” Keith interrupted, a hand on his chin.

                “How can you be sure?” Pidge asked.

                “I just…have a feeling.”

                “Okay.” She sighed, crossing her arms in front of her. “…What do you think we should do?”

                

* * *

                The plan was to get them to talk. Simple enough, right? Keith had called Shiro and told him someone had to talk to him. Someone important. Shiro agreed, somewhat hesitant, but agreed nonetheless. Pidge called Matt and said that she had a friend who liked him and wanted to talk to him for a bit.

                “Well?” Lance asked when Pidge came back into the room. She pocketed her phone slowly and frowned.

                “He agreed but he didn’t seem too happy about it.” She sighed. “He thinks…It’s you.”   

                “Me?” Keith gaped. When she nodded, a sense of dread fell over him. “Great. Why didn’t you tell him no?”

                “Because I was afraid he wouldn’t come if I didn’t!” She argued back. “He said he’d show up, so that’s the best I can do.”

                “Wait! Maybe we can work with this!” Lance jumped in-between them. “If you show up, maybe you can see how he’d react to a man asking him out!”

                “Or I ruin any chances for Shiro by injecting myself into this supposed role?” Keith glared back gently at Lance, who only glared back.

                “I think it’d be a good chance to see how Matt would act around someone who likes him. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”        

                “Question. Just a quick one.” Pidge interrupted, holding up her hands to stop the two from arguing still. “Why do you care?”

                “Me?” Lance gasped, a hand on his chest as he dramatically took a step back. “This is the prospect of true love, Pidgeon. The act of confessing ones true feelings, the war of fighting unrequited love!”

                “Seriously.” She stated, frowning up at him. Keith watched as he settled back down and glanced over at him.

                “Because…Because I care about Keith.” He said. Keith felt his heart jump into his throat at that moment and he struggled to stop any noise from escaping his mouth from his surprise. “And he obviously cares about his brother. I saw the way Shiro reacted to something so small—the way he was so shaken by the tiniest form of rejection from Matt. I don’t know them well, and I’m still getting to know Keith and you myself but…” He glanced over one last time at Keith and smiled something so genuinely that Keith felt their string tighten, pulling them in together. “I want to help. For the sake of helping. As well as Keith.”

                “Good enough for me.” Pidge grinned, tearing Lance’s eyes away from Keith’s gaze as she walked up to him and patted his cheek. “You’re a good guy, Lance.”

                “Thanks.” He grinned, a tiny blush on his cheeks from the praise.         

                “Well…Um…” Keith had to clear his throat, all the while trying to stop the blush from forming on his face, failing miserably. “I guess I better head out and meet Matt.”

                _God, I hope this works._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohohohohoho what will happen next?????


	6. Confession Time

                They met at a park near the campus that was close to Matt’s work. Keith stood there, hands deep into the pockets of Lance’s coat that he had borrowed on the way there. Lance insisted he wore it the second he started shivering and honestly, Keith couldn’t say no to Lance. Part of him now wanted to just leave and hope for the best when Shiro and Matt met up unknowingly to the same place. However, behind him stood Lance and Pidge, hidden within the bushes and trees that surrounded the park. If he left now, they’d just chase him back into place.

                _Oh god, what have I done?_

                “Keith?” He heard Matt speak behind him. Turning around, he waved lazily as the other walked over to him. “It’s good to see you, buddy.” Matt offered a hug, which Keith reluctantly took. Usually he’d be overwhelmed by Matt’s deodorant (which had been a big problem since he was in high school) but all he could smell was Lance from the coat.

                “It’s good to see you too.” Keith sighed into the hug, pulling away after a moment or two.

                “Pidge said you…needed to talk to me.” Matt forced a smile. Keith looked away, eyes focused in on the string around Matt’s pinkie—it swayed and tugged, indicating Shiro was getting closer. _I need to be fast._

                “Yeah. There’s…Somebody that I know…That likes you a lot.” Keith tried, scratching at his cheek as Matt smiled genuinely at him.

                “Uhuh. A friend of yours?” He said in return, Keith getting a little ticked that Matt was not believing him. Granted, Matt thought it was him who had the feelings, thanks to Pidge. _Just a few more minutes. Do it for Shiro._

                “Yeah, a friend.” Keith nodded, running a hand through his hair as he looked anywhere but Matt. “He’s…Liked you for a long time now. He doesn’t share this but I know he does. He would do anything for you and has done a lot in the past. He’s not selfish—and that’s the problem. He doesn’t try hard enough for himself. He just wants you to be happy.”

                “I see.” Matt sighed. Reaching out, he grabbed Keith’s arm; Keith had to try his best not to recoil from the touch, as he still had a part to play. “I think this friend of yours is a fantastic guy. I think he’d make a really good partner. But he’s too young and better off with others of his own age.” He made Keith look at him and smiled gently. “Don’t you think?

                “I don’t think that.” Keith argued, taking his arm back roughly. “He’s a good man and he needs to be told straight up whether or not you care for him. Otherwise, he’s just going to suffer for years to come.”

                “I do care!” Matt retorted, a little offended by Keith’s accusations. “Keith, I do care about you. You’re like a little brother to me!”

                “Not me.” Keith shook his head, turning around just in time to see the string shorten—Shiro stood behind him, more confused than ever as he stared at the two.

                “Shiro?” Matt asked. Keith looked back at him and smiled as everything started to click in together. Matt’s mouth dropped and he stared hard at Shiro, who could only stare back. Keith started to walk away, only to place a hand on Matt’s shoulder, bringing his attention back to him.      

                “Be nice to him.” Keith whispered, eyes dark with an unspoken threat as he left towards the bushes. He could hear Shiro call his name but he knew that this was the right time to leave. Unsure where Lance and Pidge where, he continued walking through the bushes until he felt a hand on his own. Looking down, he saw Lance place a finger to his mouth as he tugged Keith in towards him. They crouched together behind Pidge who was adamantly watching the two men talk—Lance didn’t let go of his hand.

                “How’d it go?” He whispered to Keith, who could only grimace back at him.

                “Sh, I can barely hear them.” Pidge muttered back, squinting at the two further out in the field.

                “What are they saying?” Keith asked, straining to hear the small murmurs. He watched as Shiro backed away from Matt, who had reached out to touch him. He frowned, only to have Lance squeeze his hand.         

                “Matt just asked if he was the one who arranged this.” Pidge confirmed. “Shiro said no. He looks shaken. Matt’s….asking if he likes him.”

                “Wow, he doesn’t play around.” Lance sighed, Keith shooting a glare at him.

                “What did Shiro say? I can’t hear.” Keith whispered, scooting closer to Pidge, Lance following him by hand. Pidge was quiet for a few seconds, listening to the others talk. It all sounded like gibberish to Keith. “…He said yes. He said he’s liked him for a long time.” Keith leaned forward, gently pushing bush out of his way. If they were to look even a fraction away from each other, they would see the trio hiding. At least this way he could hear.

                “…You like me?” Matt asked, his voice so quiet Keith barely caught it. He watched as Shiro nodded, biting his lip to stop himself from crying, it looked like. “…For how long?”

                “Since I can remember.” Shiro answered, his voice strong, yet shaky. “You were so nice to me back in school…I was so scared of everything back then. But then, when I looked at you, I felt safe. You’ve always been home to me, Matt.”

                “Oh, Shiro.” Matt covered his mouth, taking a step forward. “Shiro…Shiro…” He reached out and this time, the other man didn’t back away. He hugged Shiro tightly, buried his face into his shoulder. Keith watched as Shiro slowly reached up and returned the hug. His shoulders started to shake and it looked like he was crying. Keith had only seen his brother cry twice—once when he had announced their adoption application for Keith and once when their father left them for another family.

                “Keith.” Lance whispered. Glancing back, he was surprised when Lance gently wiped at his cheek, tears having been there. “Don’t cry.”

                “I’m not.” He quickly said, using his other hand to rub at his face angrily. Lance only offered a smile and squeezed his hand once more.

                “Okay.” They heard Matt say, muffled from Shiro’s shoulder. He pulled away and wiped at his own face, a blush high up on his cheeks. “I—I gotta go.”

                “Matt.” Shiro spoke, his voice cracking. Matt quickly shushed him, taking the other man’s face between his hands.

                “I need to think about some things.” He reassured. “I-I need to talk to Danny. I need to talk to myself, I just need…” He paused, taking in a deep breath. “I need to think this through.” Shiro could only nod, causing Matt to smile up at him. “Takashi. I love you. I really do. I just need to figure this out. Okay?”

                “Okay.”

                “Okay.” Matt hugged him one last time before pulling away completely. “I’ll call you later. I promise. No matter what, I care about you.” He grabbed Shiro’s hands and squeezed them tightly. Pidge sniffled quietly behind her hands and Keith reached out to wrap an arm around her. “Thank you. For telling me.”

                With that, Matt walked away. Shiro stood there, watching him leave for a long time. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, looking down at himself. Then he turned and looked over at the three of them. They all gasped and scrambled to get up, however Shiro was faster. He greeted them as they rushed out of the bush, eyes red from crying, and a blush on his face too.

                “Shiro—I can explain.” Keith tried, letting go of Lance’s hand and of Pidge, only to be stopped by a hug from his brother.

                “Thank you.” Shiro mumbled, hugging tighter around the younger man. “I…I just—thank you.” He stepped back and smiled down Keith, ruffling his hair lovingly when all Keith could do was stare. “And you, Katie. Thank you.” Pidge looked up and sniffled once more, rushing over to give Shiro as big of a hug as she could with her tiny arms.

                “I’m proud of you, Shiro.”

                “Thank you.” He chuckled, looking up to smile genuinely down at Lance, who stood awkwardly near the bush they had previously been hiding against. “And you too, Lance. I have a feeling you had a part of this too.”

                “Well, only a tiny role.” Lance corrected, causing Shiro to laugh weakly. “Are you going to be okay?”       

                “Yes.” Shiro nodded, rubbing at his eyes once more. “Yes, I think so.”

                “He’ll be fine.” Keith smiled up at Shiro, who only could grin back in return. Glancing down at the string attached to his pinkie, Keith was filled with warmth when he saw the string, once so frail and broken down, completely anew. No more knots. No more pain.

                Shiro had healed the string himself.


	7. Special Friends

                Keith walked into their shared dorm room sometime around lunch, exhausted from his morning class. Lance sat waiting on the bed, playing on a 3ds when Keith finally walked in.

                “Hey there, sleepy head!” He smiled, sitting up and standing to greet him. “You took my jacket again!” Glancing down, Keith frowned when he realized Lance was right—he did take his jacket by accident. Ever since the Shiro moment a week back, Keith kept forgetting to return the jacket to Lance. It was so simple to just throw it on before class. Not to mention it was his favorite jacket now.

                “Sorry about that.” He said, about to pull it off when Lance placed a hand on his, stopping him.

                “No, don’t worry about it. Keep it.” Lance smiled before looking over the jacket, patting it down. “It looks good on you. Who knew red was your colour?”

                “Heh.” Keith allowed the smile to blossom as he tucked his hands back into the jackets pockets. “Thanks. I’ll take care of it.”

                “Uh, sorry to interrupt.” Pidge said, suddenly at the door. The two looked over at her, and while she smirked, they both blushed. “But Keith, you said we were going to meet in the courtyard at noon.”

                “Did I?” He asked back, now frowning once more. He sighed and pushed off his backpack filled with heavy books back onto his bed. “Just give me a sec to clean up.”

                “And Lance! Hunk was looking for you!” Pidge smiled, ignoring her friend.

                “Ahh shoot, I forgot we were supposed to hang today. Thanks for the reminder, Pidgeon!”

                “It’s _Pidge._ I swear to God—“

                “I’m off!” Lance said, running over to surprise Keith with a hug from behind. “See you later, buddy! See you, Pidge!” Keith turned around just in time to watch him walk away, Keith’s other jacket in hand. _I guess we traded._

“Have you heard anything from Matt?” Keith asked leisurely, trying to distract away from the fact that Lance just hugged him.

                “Yeah, he’s a little tiffed that I watched him talk with Shiro but he’s thankful nonetheless. He says he’s going to talk to Shiro later on tonight. Hopefully good news.” She smiled before allowing it to turn into a smirk. “So…” Pidge started, walking over to sit on the edge of Keith’s bed as he unpacked his belongings. “You and Lance.”

                “What about us?” He mumbled, not really looking over at her.

                “What’s going on between you two? It’s barely been a month and yet you two act like you’ve been best friends for years now.” All Keith could do was shrug. Pidge wasn’t buying it though. “I mean it. You two have something going on. Something special. Like what Matt and Shiro have.”             

                At that, Keith finally looked at her. He looked into his best friend’s eyes and realized she was genuinely curious. Or was it concern? She knew that he didn’t make friends easily and that he was far better suited working alone, living alone, and being alone. Yet with Lance, Keith was thriving. He loved living with Lance. Loved coming home to someone. He had a new friend and their bond was easily made just by simply talking. He didn’t recoil from Lance’s touch—he didn’t mind the silence between them on tired days spent together—Keith found himself more comfortable and open around Lance than he did Pidge or Shiro for that matter.

                Was this really what it was like to be around your soulmate?

                “We do.” He breathed out, the silence finally filled. “We do have something special.” He sat down and grabbed her hand. “Pidge, do you remember when we were children? I told you about…About this string I could see? Connecting people together; no matter how knotted and frail it got, it could never break?”

                “Kind of. But what does this have to do with Lance?”

                “It has everything to do with Lance. And Shiro. And Matt. And you!”

                “What are you talking about?” She frowned, though never pulling away from Keith’s hand.

                “…I can see this string.” He admitted, heart pounding so loud, it drowned out his words as he spoke. “I can see this red string. And it’s attached to almost everyone I see. It’s connected to their soulmates—their fated partners, if you will. I’ve been able to see it since I was a child.”

                “…And Lance has one?”

                “Yes.”

                “With you.” Pidge tilted her head, like she was trying to solve a puzzle.

                “Yes.”

                “You’re soulmates?” She asked, everything falling into place at once. “Oh my god, you’re soulmates!” She jumped up and off the bed and grabbed Keith’s other hand. “You and Lance are soulmates! Oh my god, does this mean Shiro and Matt are soulmates as well? Is this why you knew they would work it out at the confession? What does this even mean? What does this mean for me? Or everyone else? Can you direct people to their soulmates? What about this string—doesn’t it get in the way of everything? And what about—“ Keith pulled a hand away and covered Pidge’s mouth to stop her from talking, a laugh spilling form his lips.

                “I’m surprised you caught on so fast.” He chuckled, Pidge giving him a dirty look from behind his hand. Gently, she pulled it away from her, just to stick her tongue out at Keith.

                “Say I believe you. What does this mean for you and Lance?”    

                “I don’t know.” He shrugged, letting go of her hand finally to lay back on the bed. “I don’t know how to act around him and yet, when he’s around, it’s so natural to respond to him. He’s my soulmate. I see the string everyday—connecting me and him together. I don’t know what to do.”

                “Wait, soulmates?” Called a voice from beyond the door. The two looked over and gaped as Hunk stood there, panting slightly, as if he had just been running. “What’s this about you and Lance being soulmates?”

                “Oh, fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little thing as I write more chapters!


	8. Hunk

                “Hunk, I can explain—“ Keith sat up, eyes wide as he tried to slowly get up and off the bed.

                “Why are you two talking about the red string of fate?” Hunk asked, rubbing at his sweaty brow. He wore a thick orange band around his forehead—he must’ve been cooking recently.

                “Wait, why do you know of that?”

                “My moms used to tell me about it when I was little. Told me that’s how they were meant to be together or something. And that one day I too would get a string around my finger.” He looked between Keith and Pidge, two very frightened kids at that moment, and smiled. “You can see it?”

                “You’re acting really casual about this.” Keith muttered, crossing his arms and sitting back down in bed. Hunk slowly closed the door behind him and came in, uninvited. Pidge waved slightly at her friend however chose to be quiet.

                “That’s because I grew up hearing stories about it. Did you know it originated in Japan? It’s supposed to be a tale of loyalty and compassion. About how, even if you can’t change fate, you can learn to adapt to it. Learn to care for it.”  

                “Huh.” Keith frowned, glancing over at Pidge, who merely shrugged back at him. “…And you’re okay with hearing me talk about it?”

                “About you and Lance?” Hunk chuckled. “It’s a bit surprising but I like it. My parents always talked about it so I kinda like to think about it every now and then when I see two people really compatible with each other. And to think, you can see it!”

                “You believe me. Just like that?”

                “Why not?” Hunk shrugged.

                “It’s a bit shocking, is all.” Keith mumbled in return.

                “Don’t you think it’s cool, though?” Pidge spoke up finally, looking up at her tall friend. “That Keith met his soulmate? Or that he knows of ours?”  

                “Yeah, that is pretty cool! Do you know mine? I think I’d like to know mine.” Hunk grinned, causing Keith to grimace.

                “Yeah. I can see a string with you, Hunk.” He murmured, looking down at the pretty little string, so vibrant compared to the rest. “I think, from how it looks, you’ve already met them.”

                “Oh, that changes things.” Hunk said, bring up a hand to rub his chin. “You can’t tell who it is though, right?” When Keith shook his head, Hunk sighed. “Fair enough. Well, if you see me together with them, lemme know! Wink or something, I don’t know.”

                “What about me?” Pidge asked, excitedly. Keith felt his shoulders drop and watched as that smile slowly dropped from Pidge’s face as well.

                “I’m sorry, Pidge. You don’t have one. Yet.”

                “Yet?”

                “I’ve seen it before—people getting their strings later in life. It could be because you don’t know yourself quite yet, or you just aren’t thinking about romance in general. I wouldn’t rush it. I don’t want you to end up with someone you’re not meant to be with.”

                “But what’s the fun in that? I’m supposed to wait until my soulmate arrives? What about exploring my identity—why can’t I do that in the mean time?”

                “I can’t control what you do. I just want you to be happy.” Keith sighed, pushing back his hair. “Plus, you’re 15. I really, really would rather not see you date an 18 year old. Matt would kill me.”

                “And Shiro.” She laughed. “Fair enough.”

                “So!” Hunk interrupted, clapping his hands together. “Are you going to tell Lance?”

                “Tell Lance what? About the string?” Keith gaped, frowning deeply when Hunk and Pidge nodded. “No. Never.”

                “Why not?! Do you know how excited he’d be if he knew he had a soulmate? He talks about relationships all the damn time with me—he’s so ready for this, I think it’d be unfair to make him wait.”

                “And what about me?” Keith snapped back. “Maybe I’m not ready for a relationship. Maybe I don’t ever want to tell Lance we’re meant to be together.”

                “Keith, it’s not up to you. It’s fate.” Hunk said softly. Keith felt himself relax after that, though a frown was kept on his face.              

                “I know. But I don’t want to try anything just yet.” He spoke back, just as soft as the other man. “I don’t want to mess things up.”

                “You won’t.” Pidge reassured, her hand on his shoulder. “Lance is a good guy. He seems to like you quite a bit. I think it’d be fine if you told him.”  

                “He was told the same story from my moms as well.” Hunk chipped in. “He’d believe it after some convincing, I think.”

                “By the way, Hunk, why are you here?” Pidge asked, looking up at him with an eyebrow arched. Suddenly, he made a horrified face and began rushing out the door.

                “I forgot! I was trying to find Lance! Thanks for the reminder, Pidge!” He called out. After it seemed like he was gone, his head popped in once more and he smiled gently over at Keith. “Try thinking about it. It might help you two get together. And I promise, I won’t tell him before you do! See ya!”

                “Bye.” Pidge called back, smiling. “He’s right, you know. You should tell Lance.”

                “I still need some time to think.” Keith mumbled back, staring down at his hands, at the string.

                “Okay. Let’s get some food.” She patted his back and stood up, gathering her things. Keith glanced one last time down at his finger and sighed.

                _Maybe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mainly conversation but it all has a purpose!!!


	9. Telling Lance

                Keith got a call back from Shiro a few days later. He was watching Lance fool around on his 3ds when he got the call. He decided to place it on speaker phone.

                “Shiro?”

                “Hey, Keith. How are you?”

                “I’m good, just with Lance at the moment.” Lance choose to give Keith two finger guns, causing Keith to smile and roll his eyes. “How’s everything?”

                “Great, actually.” Shiro’s voice sounded happy, and a little breathless. “Matt…Is going to give us a chance.”

                “Really? That’s great news!” Keith sat up, a grin on his face as he switched hands. “What about Danny?”               

                “She apparently had been thinking of breaking up for a while. She figured they were better off as friends. I can’t help but feel maybe a bit guilty for this but—“

                “You didn’t make this decision though. Matt did.” Keith argued back, causing a quiet laugh to come from his brother.

                “Right. I’m still a bit shocked, to be honest.” Shiro’s voice was drifting off somewhere, like the love-sick fool he was. Usually his brother was more composed. It was nice to see his guard down. “Matt sounded excited…And nervous. But mostly excited. He grabbed my hand on the way out for coffee today.”

                “Ooh, so sensual.” Keith teased, earning a disgruntled noise from the man.

                “I’m happy, Keith. Really, really happy. And it’s all thanks to you.”

                “Please, you could’ve told him that you didn’t like him back then.” Keith muttered, glancing over at Lance, who had placed his 3ds on the bed now, staring back at him. “He better take care of you or else I’m coming after him, Pidge be damned.” Shiro laughed loudly back at Keith.

                “It’s nice to know I’m still looked after. Thank you again, Keith.”

                “No problem, Shiro. I’ll see you later.”

                “Oh! And Keith?” Shiro interrupted, just before Keith hung up. “About me and Matt…The red string of fate…Did you see it?”

                Keith froze, his eyes wide as he stared down at the phone. _Oh god, why did he have to say that?_ Too scared to look at Lance, Keith swallowed down a lump and nodded, despite Shiro not being there to see it.

                “Yeah. Yeah, it’s there.” There was the sound of Shiro’s breath as he exhaled and then of quiet laughter. He was happy.

                “That’s great—That’s….Hah.”

                “I gotta go, Shiro. I’ll talk to you later.” Keith said hurriedly, hanging up before his brother could say his goodbyes. Holding the phone to his chest, Keith glared down at the floor, unsure what to do at this point.

                “Keith?” Lance asked, hesitantly. Keith jumped slightly, bringing his shoulders in towards himself more, as if he was trying to hide the phone from Lance. “Keith, what was he talking about?”            

                “What do you mean?” Keith retorted back, finally looking at Lance. He relaxed, however, when he saw Lance’s face. He looked confused—that was to be expected, however it didn’t seem to be about the string. Lance gazed back at Keith, focused in on his expressions.

                “Why does that sound familiar?” Lance tore his sight away after a few moments, frowning as he tried to remember the story. “Red string…”

                “Who knows why.” Keith shrugged, getting up and grabbing Lance’s former jacket. “Let’s get some food.”

                “Hang on.” Lance said, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

                “What are you doing?” Keith frowned, only frowning deeper when Lance held up a finger at him.

                “Hey, Hunk! It’s Lance! I was just wondering—why does ‘red string of fate’ ring a bell?” Lance smiled as he talked, Keith’s heartrate increasing when he realized what Lance was doing. His volume was up so high, Keith was able to hear what Hunk was responding with.

                “Oh! Did Keith tell you already?”

                “No!” Keith exclaimed, jumping on Lance and tugging the phone out of his hands, Lance yelping at the sudden weight on his torso as Keith straddled him, holding the phone away. “Sorry, Hunk.” He said quickly into the phone before hanging up. Lance held out his arms, a light glare on his face as he tried to find his words.

                “Uh, Keith?! The hell was that?”              

                “I…Uh…” Keith looked down at him, at their position and blushed something fierce. Scrambling up, he stood a few steps away from Lance and held the phone out in front of him. “Sorry. Here.”

                “You’re acting strange.” Lance muttered, standing up from the bed and taking his phone back, pocketing it quickly. “Tell me what?”

                “Huh?” Keith made a face, a hand in his hair as he tried to calm himself down.

                “What were you supposed to tell me? What’s this string?”

                Keith felt his body shut down. This was literally the last thing he wanted to do; he didn’t want to lie to Lance however he didn’t also want to tell him the truth. What if he told Lance they were soulmates and all Lance could do was freak out? What if he lied about the string completely? Then Lance would just think he didn’t trust him. Keith wasn’t in a good place at that moment. He felt his hand shake, which he quickly made into a fist. _Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath_.

                “Okay.” He mumbled, staring down at the floor. “Okay. Let’s…Let’s go on a walk. I gotta tell you something.” Keith sighed, picking up the jacket he had thrown and pulling it on slowly. “I also need some fresh air.”

                “You okay?” Lance asked, anger forgotten as he took a step in to look at Keith’s face. Keith retracted his steps away from Lance, simply nodding.

                “Yeah. Let’s go.”

* * *

 

                Telling Lance was hard. Keith’s heart was racing the entire time—his voice and words jumbled up as he tried to speak through his nervousness. They walked around the park they had originally been at a week before, only to stop at the swings on the playground. They sat on the two swings there and slowly moved back and forth as Keith continued to explain.

                “And I’ve been able to see it ever since I was a kid. I was never told why—it was just a norm. I quickly figured out it was a thread connecting lovers—soulmates together, because the outcome was always that. Two people in love. It was only recent that I learned more about it. That I can…Break it, if I want. I can’t untie knots that people have made and I can’t pull people together—all I can do is break it.”

                “Do you? Break it, that is.” Lance asked, his voice quiet as he swung back and forth gently.

                “Once. By accident.” Keith shook his head, feeling himself get emotional as he thought back to that fateful day where he ruined his parent’s relationship forever. “I’ve been too scared since then—to interfere with others and their fated partners. I don’t want to mess up their lives like I did with…”

                “Wow.” Lance dug his feet into the gravel to stop himself. “Just…Wow.”

                “You believe me?” Keith’s voice was small as he asked, looking up at Lance, trying to ease his tears back.

                “I do.” Lance nodded. “Why would you lie to me? Especially about something as specific as this.” He sighed and leaned back, holding himself up with his hands. “Man, I wish I could see my string. See where and who it led to.”

                “…You do have a string.” Keith murmured, a little shocked when Lance shot back up.

                “Who? Who is it? Do you know who she is?”

                “She?” Keith cocked his head, frowning slightly. Lance pulled back at that and hummed.

                “I guess my soulmate could be a guy. I just assumed I would always end up with a girl. Heteronormativity, I suppose.”

                “I guess so, yeah.” Keith laughed, glad that some of the tension was eased.

                “Well, do you know who it is?” Lance grinned, leaning in real close with excited features. Keith swallowed and panicked. This is it.

                “…I don’t…Know.” He whispered. He could feel those tears return—he held on though. No use in crying in front of Lance again.

                “Oh…Well…I guess that’s to be expected.” The other man sighed deeply, and dramatically. He turned away for a moment, looking up at the sky with a wishful look on his face. “What about you? Do you know who your soulmate is?”

                _Yes._ “No.” Keith lied, rubbing at his eyes. “No, I don’t…I don’t have a string.”

                “Oh, Keith.” Lance said back. Keith was silent, trying to stop himself from crying when a hand reached out for his own. Lance tenderly wrapped his pinkie around Keith’s, pulling it out between them and their swings. “I’m sorry. That’s gotta suck…Maybe it’ll show up later on! Like Pidge’s!”

                “Yeah.” Keith sniffled, looking down at their pinkies, and the string connecting them together, so short at that moment. “Yeah, maybe.”

                “C’mon. Enough sad things today.” Lance stood up, pulling Keith up with him. “Let’s get some food! Maybe we’ll find my soulmate on the way there! Wouldn’t that be cool?”

                “Yeah, totally.” Keith forced a smile, following Lance closely as they began towards town. _I’ll tell him. Later._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why did Keith lie >:o  
> WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT  
> idek


	10. Allura

A knot had formed between them, Keith realized. Probably his doing, if he looked back on it. Yet he still couldn’t find himself the courage to tell Lance that they were soulmates. And honestly, it was becoming a problem.

                Whenever they went out together and Lance even so glanced at someone particularly pretty, he would tug on Keith’s hand and excitedly ask if that was his soulmate: the answer was always ‘no.’ One day, Keith snapped and asked what Lance would do if his soulmate was ugly—Lance said that if they were truly soulmates, they would be the most beautiful person he had ever seen before. They left it at that.

                September came and passed with little effort—their classes now a norm, Keith found his free time dwindled down to either studying with Pidge or spending time with Lance. The alone time he got, he usually was talking to someone on the phone or sleeping. It was strange to suddenly have a different routine—especially one that was social, however Keith couldn’t really complain about the company.

                October 1st came around the corner that Sunday and Keith was in the courtyard, reading one of his many books for his English class. He ignored the strings around him and the people passing by until one stopped in front of him deliberately. Looking up with a small glare, he slowly recognized the person in front of him.

                “Allura?”

                “It’s nice to see you again, Keith!” She smiled, her hair now in a short bob compared to how long it had been in high school. She opened up her arms, expecting a hug, so Keith hurried up to give her a short one.

                “It’s good to see you too. I heard from Pidge you were coming here—sorry I haven’t tried to contact you.”

                “It’s no problem at all. I’ve been fairly busy myself.” She laughed, tucking a hair behind her ear, glancing back behind her. “Oh, this is my roommate, Shay!” Keith looked around Allura but didn’t have to look far—Shay was a very, very tall woman. She had darkened skin, kind of like Lance’s, with neatly cut black curly hair. She wore a shy, curious smile on her face and she gingerly waved ‘hello’ to Keith as he stared. Her thread was bright and red, just like Hunk’s, swaying gently against her hand.

                “Oh, uh, nice to meet you.” Keith offered a smile, reaching out to take her hand in greeting.

                “I know you might be busy, seeing as midterms are coming around for all of us, but I would be delighted to spend some more time with you this term!” Allura suggested, tilting her head slightly at Keith. It was true that they were friends in high school but not necessarily the best of friends. Maybe this was her way of getting to know Keith better; who was he to refuse?

                “I’d like that. Let me give you my number.” Keith mumbled, only to fumble with his phone when a certain someone jumped on him from behind.

                “Heya, buddy! I’m back with snacks!” Lance exclaimed right into Keith’s ear, Keith only grunting in return and gently pushing the other off. Lance then glanced over at Allura and his mouth dropped theatrically. “Who is this beauty and why haven’t I met her before?”

                “Awfully bold.” Allura noted before choosing to smile at Lance, who could only swoon against Keith. "My name is Allura, and this is Shay. I went to secondary school with Keith.”

                “Nice to meet two beautiful ladies in one day.” Lance smirked, ignoring Keith as he passed Allura his phone. “What majors are you in?”

                “We’re both in astronomy.” Shay said, her voice soft.

                “Astronomy, huh?” Lance looked over at Allura and caught her attention away from Keith’s phone. “Babe, your beauty makes the morning sun look like the dull glimmer of the moon.”

                “What the fuck, Lance?” Keith muttered, Allura laughing at Lance for the bad pick up line.

                “I don’t think so, my friend.” She handed back Keith’s phone with her number now in it and shook her head at Lance, though she smiled. “Keith, I’ll see you later. We should grab coffee.”

                “Sounds good.” He waved them goodbye, the two girls instantly talking to each other as they walked away.

                “Who is that beauty and why are you friends with her?”

                “Are you implying I’m only friends with ugly people?”

                “Of course not! You have me as a friend!”

                “True.” Keith agreed only to blush and look away. “Uh, Allura and I go back to high school—we were in the same math class and we sat together. It was the only thing that made math bearable.”

                “She’s smart _and_ beautiful. I bet she could kick my ass, too.” Lance sighed, watching her walk away. “Oh, Keith! Is she the one?” Keith stared up at Lance and couldn’t find the words to say ‘no’. He really wanted someone else to be his soulmate, didn’t he? Especially a girl. Why would Keith ruin his dreams by saying ‘no’? Lance could be happy. Choosing to remain quiet, Lance caught on by himself.

                “Oh my god, she is! She’s the one! My one and only soulmate!” He jumped in the air, kicked his legs and bounced around Keith excitedly. “Oh no, what should I do? Wait, you have her number! Gimme it, gimme it, gimme it!”

                “Lance, hang on!” Keith tried, desperately trying to keep his phone out of reach from the other, only failing. “How can you be so sure?”

                “We had a connection—something clicked, I know it did.” Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith and fiddled around on his phone until he pulled up Allura’s contact. “Is she or is she not?”

                “I’m not saying anything.” Keith muttered, taking his phone back abruptly and grabbing his back pack. “I’m going back to the dorms.”

                “Wait, what about studying together?” Lance asked, his face heartbroken at the aspect of being left alone. Keith shook his head, frowning and started on his way.

                “I just need to rest for a bit.”

                Another knot formed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short, bitter chapter lmao  
> i s2g there's going to be fluff soon, i promise.  
> and klance development, let keith be angsty for the moment he's going through a lot


	11. Confronting Lance

                Keith was avoiding Lance. He knew that it was a bad idea to do so, seeing as fate would see them together—however he was mad. At himself, mostly.

                Why did he lie to Lance? He didn’t explicitly tell him that Allura was his soulmate, but he also didn’t say ‘no’. Because of that, Lance was hanging around Allura more often the past few weeks. Keith was surprised the two were getting along fairly well. Lance died down on the pickup lines, which happened for almost the entire fire week he knew Allura, and focused in on simply being around her. They were good together—Allura calmed Lance down to a degree and Lance excited her with stories. Keith walked in on them more than once doing beauty routines together. It was nice to be around Allura again, as he had missed her friendship to a degree, but at the same time, he was a little pissed.

                He did this to himself, he knew that. He was glad that Lance and Allura made a new friend, but he was also worried what would come of it.

                Keith sat in the mess hall by himself, a book in hand though not entirely reading it. He was focused in on his thoughts that he almost missed Hunk and Pidge coming to sit with him.

                “Heya, Keith!” Hunk said, Keith barely hearing it and looking up in time.

                “Oh, hey, Hunk. Hi, Pidge.” He murmured, closing his book in defeat.

                “Where’s Lance?” Pidge asked curiously, pulling up her huge bag and plopping it on the table in front of her.

                “Why would I know?” Keith muttered back, crossing his arms defensively. Pidge and Hunk looked at each other only to return their gazes back to Keith, now concerned.

                “What’s going on with you two? Did you have a fight?” Hunk asked, genuinely worried. Keith could only frown. Before either of them could speak up, a hand found its way to Keith’s shoulder. Looking up, he almost made a face when he saw Allura standing there.

                “Allura!” Pidge exclaimed, excited to see her old friend.

                “It’s nice to see you again, Pidge.” Allura smiled. “And you too, Hunk. Lance was looking for you.” She mentioned, Hunk pursing out his lips and nodding. “And Keith…” She squeezed his shoulder, making him look up at her. “I need to speak with you for a moment, if that’s okay.”

                “Sure.” He sighed, standing up and collecting his things. “I’ll see you guys later.” He said to Pidge and Hunk before turning away and walking alongside Allura.

                “There’s something I need to speak with you about.” She started, crossing her arms and slowing her pace once they stepped outside.

                “What about?” He asked, though he had a feeling.

                “It’s about Lance.” She smiled weakly, looking away when Keith frowned. “I think…I think he likes me to some degree. And if not that, he’s expecting something from me that I cannot give.”

                “You don’t like him back?” Keith asked, staring as she grimaced slightly.

                “I like him plenty enough—we’ve grown very close in the past few weeks. I’ve been able to talk to him about many things; some things I don’t even speak to Shay about. He’s opened up fairly quickly to me as well and I appreciate it greatly, having a new friend. But, no. I don’t like him in that way.”

                “Why not? He’s a great guy.” Keith tried, absentmindedly kicking at a rock that was in front of him. Allura reached out and stopped him there, a hand on his arm once more.

                “I know that. He talks quite a bit about how great you are as well. Though he feels that maybe you don’t want to be around him at this time. And he doesn’t know why.”

                “So you’re telling me to go talk to him?” Keith grumbled, eyes sharp as he stared as his friend as she shook her head.

                “I want you to tell him I can’t be with him because I’m not attracted to him in that way. Or any man, for that matter.” She smiled, letting go of his shoulder after a moment.

                “Oh.” Keith relaxed slightly, finding himself a bit awkward after her coming out. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

                “That’s quite alright. I don’t believe Lance knows either.” She grinned. “I also think that maybe, by my stepping in, I’ve disrupted a good relationship between you two. I wanted to apologize.”

                “No, you did nothing wrong.” Keith frowned, shaking his head. “If anything, it’s my fault.” He looked away, feeling that anger return. “I was afraid to tell him the truth and because of that, I’ve ruined any trust between us.”

                “I see.” She hummed. “I think, if you were to talk to him, he’d understand.”

                “Yeah. Yeah, I think you’re right.” Keith sighed, pushing back his hair. It was getting kind of long. “I’ll go talk to him. Thanks, Allura.”

                “My pleasure.” She smiled, then opened up her arms once more. Keith hesitated for only a second before walking in and accepting her hug. “Thank you for being understanding.”

                “Thanks for trusting in me.” He returned before stepping away. “I’m going to go find Lance now. I’ll talk to you later?”

                “Of course!”

* * *

 

                Keith was able to find Lance later on that day in their dorm room, bundled up in his blankets, music blasting into his ear. He sighed and took off his jacket, hanging it up neatly at the door before dropping his bag off and walking over to Lance. Tentatively, he sat on the other’s bed and gently shook his shoulder. Lance looked up with sad eyes, and then shocked, sat up and took Keith’s hand, earbuds thrown away somewhere.

                “Keith?”

                “Hi.” Keith said, a sad smile on his face. Lance made a face, scrunched up and tight, before he reached out and pulled the other in.

                “Hey, man.” He breathed out, Keith wrapping his arms around Lance in return, melting into the other’s warmth. “…Why have you been avoiding me?”

                “It’s…Complicated.” Keith mumbled back, against Lance’s shoulder. Lance pushed him away, held in there with his hands and stared straight into Keith’s eyes.

                “Was it something I did?” He asked, voice small and broken. Keith felt his heart break slightly, watching Lance be so scared.

                “No. No, you did nothing.”

                “Are you sure?” Lance laughed, removing one of his hands to wipe at his eyes. “I know I do some pretty annoying things. Pretty much all the time. I can’t learn to shut up and I don’t know how to take a clue.”

                “Lance, stop that.” Keith said, voice quiet. Lance shook his head, biting his lip.

                “I did something that made you avoid me.”

                “You did nothing.” Keith repeated. When Lance looked away, so very scared and insecure, Keith felt his impulses take control. He reached out and grabbed Lance’s face with one hand, and then two. He made the other look at him and he stared deeply into Lance’s blue eyes for a few moments. He watched as a single tear dropped from Lance’s eyes down his cheek, and with his thumb, Keith wiped it away.

                “You’re wonderful.” He whispered. “Absolutely wonderful. You did nothing wrong. I was the one who made the mistake—and I was too afraid to correct it.”

                “Mistake?” Lance whispered back, voice cracking.

                “Allura’s not your soulmate.” Keith finally said. Lance dropped his shoulders slightly as a few more tears dropped out of his eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier.”

                “Yeah. Yeah, you should’ve.” Lance muttered, rubbing at his eyes roughly. “Thanks for telling me now, though.”

                “Are you going to be okay?” Keith asked, letting go of Lance’s face slowly, fingers lingering.

                “Maybe” Lance sighed, glancing back over at Keith and choosing to smile. “Lemme just…” He crawled over and pulled Keith closer to him until Keith fell to the bed with a grunt. Lance then curled up on top of Keith, arms tight around the other’s torso as he sighed. “Yeah, I’ll be okay now.”

                “Um?” Keith made a noise, arms in the air as he looked down at Lance. Annoyed, Lance reached out and pulled Keith’s arms around him.

                “Lemme mourn my loss—I need physical affection right now.” Keith’s arms twitched around Lance, heart beating at a terribly fast rate before he gradually relaxed.

                “Okay.” He mumbled, tightening his grip on Lance’s back, who only sighed and snuggled in closer. “Okay.”

                “Keith?” Lance whispered after a few minutes of much needed silence.

                “Yeah?”

                “Who’s my soulmate?”

                Keith was asleep before he could answer.

                _I can tell him later._


	12. Keith's Birthday

                October 23rd. Keith’s birthday. It came and went without any distractions from his day. It was a Monday—he had morning classes. He woke up to a voicemail from Matt and Shiro, screaming him happy birthday. He also woke up to a text from Allura and Pidge, wishing him a good day. He glanced over at Lance, still sleeping across from him and smiled.

                No use telling him.

                So, Keith went about his day, as if it was like any other day. Lance by his side, occasionally seeing Hunk and the others. He got a short visit from Shiro after his work and they grabbed dinner together with his mom. It was nice to see her, after so long. Keith found it easy to talk about his new friends with her, as well as his new life at school. She seemed pleased that he was thriving—she carried a smile on her face the entire dinner.

                However, Keith came home to Lance, sitting in the middle of the room and glaring.

                “Uh, hi?” Keith laughed shortly, taking off his clothes for bed.

                “Save the pleasantries!” Lance spat out, as if he had an audience to entertain. “It’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”

                “Yeah. It is.” Keith sighed, pulling on a night shirt before looking back at Lance. “I’m 19 today.”

                “Well!” Lance stood up, arms wide as if Keith was missing the obvious. “Shouldn’t I have known that?”

                “Why? It’s just a day.”

                “No it is not just another simple day! It’s your birthday! It’s extremely special!” Keith frowned at that, ignoring the slight blush he got from Lance calling it ‘special’.

                “Well, it’s already gone and passed. Plus, I’m older than you now—do you always speak to your elders like that?”

                “Oh my god, I’m going to kill you.” Lance groaned, however there was a smile on his lips as he rubbed at his face. “I would’ve celebrated it with you if you had told me.”

                “I’m not one for big celebrations—I had dinner with my family and now I’m home.” Keith sighed, plopping onto his bed.

                “But you’re 19! That’s a big number! We should have a party!”

                “Nope.” Keith smiled, rolling over and covering his head with his pillow. “Good night!”

                “Keith. Keith! Keith Kogane, you will answer me!” Lance cried, grabbing one of Keith’s pillows and hitting his backside with it. Keith laughed and tore the pillow off his head, throwing it at Lance’s head. That started an all-out war between them—pillows ruined, they aimed for plushies next, throwing and screaming at each other. At one point, Lance had tackled Keith back onto his bed and had taken the already ruined pillow against Keith’s face.

                “Take that!” He yelled, grinning as Keith fumbled about the feathers flying everywhere. He tried to reach up and take the pillow, but Lance was so damn tall and lean, his arms easily outsized Keith’s. Growling a bit, he grabbed the sides of Lance’s thighs and flipped them over. He was able to grab the pillow then, now that he was on top and he smirked down at the surprised man.

                “You may have reach, but I have flexibility.” He murmured, throwing the pillow away and crawling off Lance. “Great, now how are we going to sleep?”

                “…Cuddling?” Lance suggested, laughing when Lance gently threw the pillow back into his face.

                “Go see the hall residence and see if she has any more pillows.”

                “Why me?!”

                “I’m older than you.”

                “You’re going to pull that until I turn 19, aren’t you?” Lance asked, sniffling as he stood up and brushed away the debris from the fight. Keith sat back and tucked his arms behind his head, smiling.

                “Yup.”

* * *

 

                Friday came with an excited undertone to it—Halloween was on a weekday that year, so many of the students at the university were planning parties around Saturday and Sunday. Keith relished in the Halloween spirit—the baby goth inside of him still yearned for spooky and campy things all year round. However, he hadn’t planned anything with anyone that year, which was a bit surprising. When he asked Pidge if she would hang out with him, she said she was busy with school work. He even asked Allura and Shay if they wanted to watch a scary movie on Sunday—they both said no but wished him a ‘ Happy Halloween’. Shiro declined, saying he was going to be with Matt that day and Hunk said he had already made plans with Lance to go out into town, something Keith didn’t want to do.

                Dejected, he came back into his dorm room and screamed when party poppers were blown in his face, black and orange confetti everywhere. There stood Hunk and Lance, both grinning something fierce. They were both wearing matching outfits— power ranger costumes, at that. Lance wore the blue one, and Hunk, the yellow.

                “Surprise!” They both yelled, Keith glaring at the two once he realized it was just them.

                “What are you doing here? What’s going on?”

                “First, I live here, so I have a right to be here.” Lance coughed, dropping the popper somewhere on the floor to grab a bag. “Second, put this on. We’re going somewhere.”

                “What?” Keith said, trying to look down at the bag.

                “I didn’t know what to get you, but I think you’d like anything dark so.” Hunk laughed, scratching his cheek.

                It was a vampire costume.

                

* * *

 

                They showed up at Matt’s apartment thirty minutes later, Keith entirely embarrassed he was walking around with two power rangers while being a vampire—though, they weren’t the only ones taking transit in Halloween costumes. Knocking on the door, Keith wasn’t prepared for yet another surprise popper in his face, this time rainbow.

                “Surprise! Happy Birthday!” Shiro stood there, in a princess peach costume, with Matt dressed as Mario on his side. Pidge wasn’t far, in her Luigi costume. Allura was there as well, with Shay—the two dressed up as star wars characters. Keith finally allowed a tiny smile to form as he looked back at Lance, who stood there grinning.

                “You did this.”

                “Hey, it could also be a Halloween party if you really don’t want it to be about you.” Lance shrugged, stepping in closer to wrap an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “But yeah, I did this.”

                “Thanks.” Keith grinned, wrapping an arm around Lance’s waist in return. They walked in together like that and were greeted by all of Keith’s friends.

                What a great Halloween.


	13. Keith's Birthday pt.2

                The party was small but lively as hell. Allura and Pidge had started Mario Kart in the spirit of the costumes, Matt and Shiro cheering them on in the background. Lance and Hunk were busy making sure the food was in order—a whole two plates full of sushi, chips and what looked like zombie cupcakes. Keith was busy talking to Shay, who he was surprised showed up.

                “I made the cupcakes.” She said, her voice just as quiet as when he first met her.

                “Oh, you gotta try them, Keith.” Hunk spoke up, grinning with a mouth full of food. “Shay makes the best desserts. They’re all I can think about sometimes.”         

                “Coming from you, Hunk, they must be fantastic.” Keith smiled, leaning in to grab one. Shay blushed lightly and tugged at her Rey costume.

                “I didn’t get out much as a kid, so I spent a lot of my time learning how to cook from my Grandma.” She explained, Keith taking in a bite of the loaded cupcake and groaning at how good it tasted.

                “Is there cream inside of here?” He murmured, covering his mouth as he tried to chew.

                “Yes! Flavored orange icing! I thought it’d make it more halloweeny.”

                “Shay, these are wonderful.”

                “Aren’t they?” Hunk appeared, Lance having gone to join the others playing Mario Kart. “You’ll have to teach me the recipe one day, Shay.”

                “Only if you teach me how to make your cookies.” She grinned, Hunk only grinning back at her smile. That’s when Keith saw it. The string—so short between them, and so shiny. He swallowed down the last bit of cupcake and cleared his throat, catching both of their attentions.

                “One day you’ll have to teach me as well. Right, Hunk?” He asked, winking quickly. Hunk made a face, a little weirded out by the wink before he remembered what it meant. He then looked at Shay and positively gleamed. He had found his soulmate.

                “Yeah, one day.” He answered in a breath, Shay smiling though a tad confused as to what was going on. “Uh, Shay, have I ever told you the story of when I was attacked by food?”

                “No! But I’d love to hear it!” She clasped her hands together, Hunk gently touching the small of her back and taking her elsewhere to sit. Keith smiled at his friends, glad that they finally found each other. _Please take care of one another._

“Keith, come play me!” Shiro called out, Keith laughing when he caught glimpse of Shiro’s costume once more.

                “Only if you play as Peach. I won’t accept anything else.” He wiped his hands on a napkin before walking over to the group, squishing in besides Shiro and Pidge.

                “Of course I’m going to use my girl. It’ll be all the more entertaining when I beat you.” Shiro laughed, eagerly holding up the controller.

                “You haven’t been able to beat me since I’ve turned 15. No way you’re beating me now.”

                “I’ll take that bet.” Lance announced, Matt looking over at him and smirking.

                “I bet for Shiro!”

                “Lance!” Pidge said, hands on his shoulders as she moved away to give him more room.

                “I too will bet for Shiro.” Allura smiled. “I don’t think he can afford to lose looking the way he is.”

                They played a total of five games, Keith winning only three times. It was close match, but Keith won the final game, cheering alongside Pidge and Lance as the two jumped on him in excitement. Shiro smiled lightly, accepting the apologetic pat on the shoulder by Allura.

                “Aw, babe.” Matt sighed, wrapping his arms around Shiro from behind. “You’re still a winner to me.”

                “Get a room.” Pidge sneered, laughing when Matt ignored her to give Shiro a big kiss on the cheek.

                Keith smiled, happy that Shiro was finally together with Matt. And now Hunk knew that Shay was his soulmate. Things were working out in the best of ways—better than he would’ve thought before. He snuck in a look at Lance and felt his smile fall slightly. Should he tell Lance? Did he even want to be together with Lance?

                “Guys, let’s get a group picture!” Lance called out, ushering Hunk and Shay into the group on the couch.

                “Only if I can get a copy.” Allura smiled, tucking herself in besides Pidge on the couch. Matt sat on Shiro’s lap excitedly, Shiro wrapping his arms around the other’s waist. Hunk and Shay found the last little room on the couch together, leaving Lance and Keith to find spots on the floor. Lance held up his phone and waited for everyone to find room within the frame of the screen.

                “Ready? One, two,” He started, wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulder. Keith smiled lightly, only to gasp when Lance’s lips found the side of his cheek. He snapped the photo, Keith shocked face and all, and everyone laughed at the poses they made.

                “Happy Birthday, Keith!” Lance cheered, followed by everyone else. Keith rubbed the side of his face and smiled, shyly at first, and then brightly.

                “Thank you.”

* * *

 

                They returned home sometime after midnight, still giggly from their time with the gang. Keith was the first to start undressing when Lance interrupted him, landing on Keith’s bed with a ‘thump’.

                “What do you want for your birthday?” Lance asked, kicking up his feet excitedly. Keith cocked an eyebrow at him and laughed.

                “You already threw me a great party—I don’t think I need anything else.”

                “C’mon.” Lance continued, reaching out with his long leg to poke Keith’s shin. “Anything you want—what would you get?”

                “I don’t need anything.”

                “I didn’t say ‘need’.” Lance grinned. Keith felt his face heat up and as he folded the vampire cloak, he decided.

                “There is one thing I want. Just a tiny thing.” He started, turning around and walking towards Lance. The other stood up and greeted him half away, a hand on his hip as he waited.

                “Oh yeah? What is it?”

                “A kiss.” Keith impulsively said. He moved his face to the side and tapped the opposite cheek form where Lance had kissed him before. “Right here.”

                “As you command, birthday boy.” Lance laughed, placing his hand on Keith’s jawline. He leaned in and gently kissed it once, twice—a total of three times. Keith felt himself grin before he could hide it and Lance giggled at his expression. “Man, you blush really easily.”

                “I do not!”

                “You so do. It’s cute.” Lance stated, moving away and starting to undress himself from his costume. Keith was left standing there, completely and utterly fallen for the other man.

                He wanted to tell him.

                He wanted to be with him.

                Keith loved Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM NOT THE BEST AT WRITING FLUFF BUT I DAMN WELL TRIED  
> oooh what will keef do now


	14. December

                November came and passed like any other month. Hunk and Shay started dating—something they announced to the group one cold afternoon. They held hands as they walked out of the kitchen and that’s what sold it to Keith. He was happy for them. They worked well together. Pidge was excelling in all her classes, but barely slept; something that Keith and Lance talked to her about. More often than not, she would crash at their dorm, as it was closer in comparison to hers. Lance was happy enough to share his bed with Keith during those nights, something that Keith tried to ignore. But it made his heart happy.

                He _was_ happy. They didn’t have a name for what their relationship was—they weren’t dating nor were they just friends. It was special. They were soulmates. Yet Lance seemed to have stopped asking where his soulmate was.

                Keith still hadn’t told Lance—there were opportunities plenty of times throughout that month, yet every time he tried to speak up, the words would fail him. Keith attempted to convince himself that he was happy enough being the way he was with Lance, but that would be a lie. He wanted Lance to know—he wanted to be with Lance entirely. But something still held him back—a fear he couldn’t name.

                December 1st was greeted with snow. It was a Friday and Keith woke up to Lance jumping on him in excitement.

                “Keith! Keith! It’s snowing!”

                “Great, it’s snowing.” He muttered back, rubbing at his eyes slowly. Lance made a noise and started to pull Keith up with him. “Lance, please—I don’t have class until this afternoon.”

                “But we gotta go make a snowman!” Lance explained, leaving Keith sitting up and grabbing one of his sweaters, throwing it at the man. “It’s one of my goals for this year! I wanna make the biggest snowman on campus!”            

                “And I have to help?” Keith sighed, already pulling on the oversized blue sweater. “Can we at least call the others and see if they can help as well?”

                “Of course! I already called Hunk and Shay! Allura and Pidge have class but they said they would come later on!”      

                “Great.” He huffed, pulling his feet out from under the covers and shivering lightly. “Let’s get going.”

                Lance was extremely adamant on making this happen—the minute they stepped outside, he ‘whooped’ and bounded into the snow like a child. He nearly tripped a few times but finally made it into the middle of the courtyard. Keith followed behind slowly, taking deliberate steps as to not sink and trip.

                “This is great—we’ll be able to see it from our window!” Lance laughed, already starting to make a snowball; he smirked and pretended to throw it at Keith, who flinched and glared.

                “I swear to god, I will leave you.” Keith smiled, tugging on his gloves first before starting to make his own snow ball.

                “No you won’t~. You like me too much.” Lance laughed, starting to roll his snowball. Keith stood there, snow in hand and smiled gently down at Lance.

                “Yeah. Probably.”

                “Hey! Sorry we’re late!” Hunk called out, holding Shay’s hand as they walked through the almost knee deep snow.

                “Join the party!” Lance waved, going back to his already large snowball after a moment. “I wanna make like a five or six tier snowman.”

                “That sounds like quite the mission. I hope we can do it before my class.” Shay smiled, letting go of Hunk’s hand to join Keith in forming the balls.

                “Please, Lance and I used to make these all the times as kids.” Hunk assured, helping Lance move the considerably sized snowball into the middle of the group. “We used to make snow huts and snow families all in the front of my yard.”

                “I usually got sick afterwards!” Lance sighed, wiping at his forehead.      

                “That’s because you would stay out until nightfall, all wet from the snow!”

                “Sounds like Lance.” Keith smirked, enjoying the little glare he got from the other.

                “Less talking, more working!”

* * *

 

                They were out there for about three hours. Allura and Pidge showed up for the last hour and helped Hunk as he tried to lift the last giant snowball above his head. Keith shook out his gloves as he stood beside Lance and laughed when they almost dropped the ball on top of Shay, who screamed and laughed while running away.

                “So, does this meet your goal?” Keith asked, bumping his shoulder against Lance’s.

                “Oh, heck yeah.” Lance grinned. “I lost my glove though. It might be in the snowman.” He complained, lifting up his reddened hand and frowning. Keith tsk’d and grabbed Lance’s hand, weaving his fingers in with the other’s.

                “It’s cold as hell.” He muttered, stuffing their hands into one of his pockets.

                “Aw, you care.” Lance joked, stepping in closer. “Man, I’m gonna miss you during break.”

                “Where are you going?” Keith asked, eyebrows furrowed.

                “Back to Cuba for the holidays. My parents really want to see me again and as much as I love the snow, I rather be on a beach right now.”

                “You’ll be gone for all of break?”

                “Pretty much, yeah. Why, are you going to miss me too?” Lance grinned, only allowing it to fall when Keith nodded slowly.

                “Yeah. Yeah, I’m gonna miss you.” Lance hummed and squeezed his hand.

                “We’ll figure something out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONLY A FEW MORE CHAPTERS LEFT, LET'S DO THIS.


	15. Soulmates

                Keith was actually the first to pack up and leave once exams were done. After his final exam, he stumbled back over to their dorm room and continued packing the little bits of belonging’s he was bringing for the two weeks away. Lance was far more lazy—lying on his bed, watching Keith pack up. Keith absentmindedly kept glancing over at Lance and smiling—and at the thread between them. There was still a little knot in the middle and all Keith could agree on was that it was there because he refused to tell Lance. Not that he didn’t want to—he just wanted it to be perfect.

                “Hey, man. Listen,” Lance started out of the blue, lackadaisically sitting up and stretching. Keith zipped up his bag and turned around, a smile on his face as he crossed his arms.

                “What’s up?”

                “I got a present for you.” Lance grinned. “But I’m kind of scared to give it to you.”

                “Lance, I’ll like anything you give me.” Keith shook his head, frowning when Lance looked away, almost shy like.

                “I’m not too sure whether or not you’ll like it.” He murmured, rubbing at his neck. Keith hummed, about to speak when his phone rang. He looked down and sighed.

                “I gotta go, that’s Shiro.” Keith said, turning back around to pull on his many layers, he declined the call and hurriedly pulled on his bag and grabbed his guitar. “Wanna see me off?”

                “Sure.” Lance replied, quickly throwing on a jacket and following after Keith. “What are you going to do on break?”

                “Play guitar, see my mom, pet the dog.” Keith stated, smiling when Lance laughed a bit. “What about you?”

                “I’m going to be surrounded by family constantly so it’ll be hard to get any down time for myself. Then again, I miss them—it’ll be nice to see them for a while.”

                “That’s the spirit.” Keith patted Lance’s back, who smiled weakly back at him. They exited out into the cold and instantly huddled together. Out of the corner of Keith’s eye he saw their snowman, still standing outrageously tall and proud. His attention was taken away when Lance reached into his pocket to grab his hand once more. He hummed and bumped his shoulder gently against Lance’s.

                “I’m going to miss you.” Keith whispered.

                “Yeah.” Lance nodded, biting his lip. “Yeah, it’s been only four months and yet I feel like I’ve known you my entire life. I know it’s only going to be a few weeks but—“ He looked over at Lance and made the saddest expression Keith’s seen so far. “I’m really, really going to miss you.”

                “I’ll be back before you know it.” Keith smiled gently. “And we’ll skype, if you want. I’ll even have the rest of the gang over if they’re free and we can skype as a group.” They were slowly reaching the parking lot, where Shiro waited inside his car.

                “I’d like that.” Lance sniffled, watching the car as they approached it. “I can give you your present now, if you want.”

                “Sure. I’m sorry I don’t have one for you—I’ll get you something for when you come back.”

                “You don’t have to. Just accepting my present will be enough.” Lance smiled, stopping a few feet away from Shiro’s car. “Keith. Close your eyes.” Keith arched an eyebrow and frowned, looking down at their hands. “Geez, just close your eyes.”

                “Alright.” Keith sighed, squeezing Lance’s hand briefly before he closed them. He waited a good few moments, hyper aware of the shuffling of Lance’s feet and the humming of Shiro’s car. He waited and waited and nothing happened. “Lance, what are you—“

                Then he felt it. Lance’s lips on his. It was a gentle kiss—barely touching, if that, but it was so full of emotion Keith melted into it easily. He pressed back and made a noise when Lance’s hand found his cheek, deepening the kiss momentarily. Then he was gone, leaving Keith in the cold. Slowly fluttering his eyes open, Keith met Lance’s gaze.

                “I don’t care who my soulmate is anymore.” Lance whispered. “I really don’t care. I care for you, Keith. I care for you on a deeper level than I have ever cared for someone before. I don’t know if you share these feelings or if you just want to be friends—I just needed to get this off my chest before the year ended. I—I love you.”

                “Lance—“ Keith started, only to be interrupted by another short kiss.

                “I’ll see you later. I—I’ll call you! Before and after I get on my plane.” Lance smiled, his cheeks a rosy red, his eyes gleaming with what looked like tears. Keith tried to follow after him, held onto his hand a bit longer than necessary but was surprised when Lance pulled away.

                “Lance.” Keith tried weakly, frowning when Lance continued to walk away. “Lance!” He yelled. Lance finally turned around, his face sullen as ever. Keith dropped his bags and ran. Ran as fast as he could through the snow, through the cold, past the string as it flitted through the air, following after him. He jumped on Lance and landed into the pile of snow beneath them and laughed. He laughed and laughed because finally, _finally_ he could tell him.

                “Keith?!” Lance cried out, arms instinctively around Keith’s waist as he tried to lift up his head to look down at the other.

                “Lance, it’s me.”

                “Huh?”

                “Lance,” Keith hummed, lifting himself up and smiling. “It’s me. Your soulmate.” Lance’s face dropped and then he grinned. He laughed and whooped and pulled Keith in closer to embrace him. They hugged so very tightly, it almost hurt. The snow forgotten, the warmth between them grew as they shared one last kiss.

                “My soulmate.” Lance giggled, brushing back Keith’s long hair away from his face. “It makes sense. But why did you wait so long to tell me?!”

                “I was scared.” Keith shook his head. “I was terrified, more likely. I didn’t want to mess things up by telling you—“

                “To think, I put you through so friggin much by trying to find my soulmate. Oh my god, and when I thought it was Allura?! I’m so sorry!”

                “Why are you apologizing, you silly man.” Keith sighed, sitting up finally onto the back of his legs, allowing Lance to sit up as well. “I was the one who held back. To think—“ Keith sighed, reaching out and touching Lance’s cheek, following it along his jaw, down his neck and then onto his chest. “I could’ve missed out on this.”

                “And now you’re leaving for two weeks.” Lance grumbled, nodding towards Shiro, who was now out of his car and grinning at the two. Keith made a face at his brother and waved at him to ‘go away’, which only made the older man laugh.

                “I’m not the one leaving the country.”

                “Whatever.” Lance laughed. “You gotta go and I have a plane to catch.”

                “True.” Keith stood up, offering a hand to help Lance up as well. “I’ll miss you.”

                “I’ll miss you more.” Lance said in a playful voice, Keith gently pushing his shoulder and making his way back to his bags. “Call me later?”

                “Of course.” Keith smiled. “Hey, Lance?”

                “Yeah?”

                “I love you.”

                Lance positively gleamed at this and glanced away for a second, as if he was too embarrassed to look up at Keith.

                “God, I—I love you too.”

* * *

 

                Keith sat on the passenger side of the car and slowly nodded along to the music Shiro had on. Shiro still had a huge grin on his face, which was starting to piss Keith off.

                “Stop that.”

                “Why? I’m happy for you.”

                “It’s annoying.” Keith groaned, grumbling when Shiro laughed.

                “You finally found your soulmate, huh?” Keith looked back out of the window and smiled to himself. He pulled himself into the jacket Lance had given him and sighed.

                “More like he found me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THAT'S THE END FOLKS  
> i take requests on my tumblr if you ever want more!  
> I'm also up for any new story ideas because man i loved writing this  
> thanks for following me on this weird journey!  
> <3  
> \- J

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is hey-mans, come yell at me about shatt and klance lmao  
> kudos and comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
